Quote:
Originally posted by moondog
I do have a question about the drive as an inherited trait to sustain life and species - is the desire to work part of this? The desire of my Rottie to interact and have a job to do is one of the things I love most about her, but a lot of it doesn't seem to fall into a life-sustaining category, unless I'm misreading her motives. I'm curious about that....... |
Hope you don't mind if I jump in here a bit. Drives are not motives as we understand them, but instincts. Motivation implies a conscious decision. Cooperation and recognition of the stronger leader is a survival trait. Loners in the wild didn't fare too well in the hunts and could not reproduce. We take drives and use them in a directed fashion to a desireable end. Prey drive is directed and channeled into tracking, herding, retrieving and much of sport work. The defense drive is channeled and guided into protection as desired, assuming that the dog is of sufficient character. Now a dog with low drives can make a perfectly fine pet for someone who has no expectations of their dog to work and those dogs rarely give anyone any trouble. I know I don't want one. Those are the dogs I describe as one who would starve to death if it had to catch a bunny for dinner, unless of course the bunny was teathered, and then you're not sure.
The weak-nerved dog that Mick describes is not good as a protection animal, nor does it make a safe or comfortable pet. Reproduction of these dogs should be strongly discouraged as it is a highly heritable trait. Added to the heritability, if the weak nerves are in the bitch she then "teaches" the pups fearfulness in addition to their genetic predisposition. Even before their ears and eyes are opened, they can sense the change in her respiration, adrenal output and heartbeat when a stranger appears. This is too much for environment to overcome. A truly talented dog person can mitigate some of this, but to what end? The dog still lives in an uncomfortable world that must be carefully monitored.
Hope I have helped add somewhat to the application of what Mick is talking about.